The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: a Zooarchaeological Perspective

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E. Editors: Daniel Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer. Copyright: ©2003 Trident Press and listed contributors. This book is a compilation of papers presented at The First International Conference on the Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, held in 2001, in the U.A.E. under the patronage of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the U.A.E. These Proceedings are published by Trident Press Ltd. in cooperation with the Zayed Centre for Heritage and History, (a constituent organisation of The Emirates Heritage Club, United Arab Emirates). Editors: Daniel Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer. Production Direction: Paula Vine Copy editing: Moira Ruddy Typesetting: Johan Hoffsteenge Photographs: Full-page colour plates are, unless otherwise credited, copyright of Trident Press Ltd. Authors have separately credited the sources of photographs and/or illustrations that are included in this book. All rights are reserved. The rights of: D.T. Potts, B. de Cardi, S. Blau, H. Kiesewetter, E. Shepherd Popescu, H. Kallweit, V. Charpentier, M. Uerpmann, S.A. Jasim, C. Velde, L. Weeks, R. Carter, S. Cleuziou, T. Vosmer, R. Boucharlat, J.M. Cordoba, P. Magee, P. De Paepe, K. Rutten, L. Vrydaghs, E. Haerinck, J. Elders, P. Yule, S. Worrell, J. Price, T. Sasaki, H. Sasaki, G.R.D. King, P. Hellyer, D. Hull, M. Beech and C.E. Mosseri-Marlio to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, Sections 77 and 78. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher and copyright owner. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN:1-900724-88-X 4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE U.A.E. Foreword It is now more than 40 years since the first archaeological excavations in the United Arab Emirates were undertaken, at the island of Umm an-Nar, adjacent to Abu Dhabi. Those excavations, which began in 1959, led to the recognition of a previously unknown civilisation, and, during the decades that have followed, further excavations and studies by archaeological teams, both from the U.A.E. and from universities and other academic institutions from around the globe, have made discoveries that have placed this country firmly on the map, in terms of its contribution to world heritage and to the emergence of modern civilisation. Yet, despite those discoveries, we, the people of the United Arab Emirates, still know little of our past. While there have been papers presented at international conferences abroad, or published in international scientific journals, relatively little has been published in the U.A.E. itself, and even less in Arabic. Nor, despite the extensive amount of work that is undertaken in the U.A.E. every year, there has never before been a conference devoted specifically to the archaeology of this country. In recognition of that and inspired by the words of President His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, “a people that does not know its past can have neither present nor future,” the Zayed Centre for Heritage and History, organised the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, held in Abu Dhabi in April 2001. As the papers in this volume show, the conference was attended by many of the leading local and international archaeologists who have worked in the U.A.E. over the last 40 years. It would be impossible to present the whole of the country’s archaeological record in detail in one publication, or at a single conference. From this volume, however, a coherent picture emerges of the whole range of the archaeological heritage of the people of the U.A.E., from the Late Stone Age, over 7000 years ago, until the Late Islamic period. That picture also includes insights into the important cultural heritage of the Emirati people, who have interacted with countries throughout the world for thousands of years. Especially with the Arabian Peninsula. It is my hope that this volume will help not only the people of the Emirates, but also others, to gain an insight into that past. It is one of which we can rightly be proud. Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Deputy Prime Minister of the U.A.E. 5 ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY The Development of Fishing in the U.A.E.: A Zooarchaeological Perspective MARK BEECH (ABU DHABI) Introduction and more substantial (T. Vosmer, pers. comm.). Larger net sinkers may have been used in conjunction with gill Fishing forms an important activity in many societies nets or beach seines; small examples may have been used throughout the world today and also played a significant in conjunction with casting nets or small beach seine nets. role in the life and subsistence of many prehistoric societies It is also possible that some were used as line sinkers to (Acheson 1981; Yesner 1980). For the coastal communities weigh down a line baited with a number of hooks. The of southeast Arabia fishing has always been an important interpretation and classification of small to medium sized economic activity. Marine resources undoubtedly made modified stones as net sinkers or line sinkers is thus an important dietary contribution to the inhabitants of this somewhat problematic. The general opinion seems to be region. The first part of this paper discusses the that ‘small size’ and ‘weight’ = ‘casting’ or ‘beach seine archaeological evidence for fishing equipment and traps. net’, and that ‘large’ examples = ‘gill net’ or large ‘seine In the following section, the zooarchaeological evidence net’ net sinkers. This still leaves us with a problem available from the recent analysis of archaeological fish interpreting some of the middle sized examples. bone assemblages from the United Arab Emirates is then A number of different types of net sinkers have been evaluated. The chronological focus of this study is from identified in southeast Arabia. Whilst some of these do the 5th millennium B.C. to the Late Islamic period. appear to have some chronological significance, others appear to be more part of certain local traditions Fishing equipment (Uerpmann 1992: 94–6). It is interesting to note that net sinkers appear to have received much more attention than Past studies of archaeological fishing equipment have the chipped stone industry in reflecting the materialised demonstrated that changes in the technology employed expression of group identity (Uerpmann 1992: 96). in coastal fishing may reflect developmental changes in Simpler more functional explanations may account, the organisation of fishing (e.g. Anell 1955; Coutts 1975; however, for some of these apparent differences. Hurum 1976). In southest Arabia a range of artefacts The first type of net sinkers are flat oval pebbles, notched associated with fishing have been discovered on coastal roughly in the middle of their long sides (fig. 20). They sites, including stone net sinkers and fish hooks made from occur at a number of Omani coastal sites belonging to the shell and copper. Saruq of Bandar-Jissa-Facies, i.e. dating to between about 5500–3500 B.C. (Uerpmann 1992: 94), but can be also Net and line sinkers found at some later sites. These simple notched pebbles were the major type of net sinker reported at Ra’s al-Hamra Probably the commonest traces of fishing equipment RH5 (Durante and Tosi 1977). A variation on these are found on archaeological sites in the region are stone net simple notched net sinkers which are sometimes sinkers. These have been found at coastal sites in the Gulf ‘retouched’ along their outline, being flaked on one side as well as along the coast of Oman. It is generally assumed with careful notches at each end. Examples of this type that these were used in conjunction with fishing nets of were discovered at Khor Milkh 1 in Oman, a site broadly some sort, on the basis of their general size and weight. contemporary with RH5. At the later site of Khor Milkh Stone anchors discovered so far in this region during 2, which is only about 300 years later than Khor Milkh 1, underwater archaeological surveys tend to be much larger however, only the simpler first type were present, along 290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE U.A.E. with an example with a large pecked waistline and dating between the 5th–3rd millennium B.C. Examples are additional notches in its ends. Some sites like Al Haddah known from the early 5th millennium B.C. site on Dalma (BJD1) in Oman also have these notched net sinkers, some Island, as well as from the 3rd millennium B.C. settlement of which were quite large, between 5–7 cm. Other examples at Umm an-Nar. Some of these are made from stone whilst have also been reported from various coastal sites in the others appear to be made from ceramics (possibly re- Ja’alan region of Oman, including Khor al-Hajar (KHJ2), used, broken pottery vessels). The precise function of Ra’s al-Khabbah (KHB1), Ruwais (RWY1) and Suwayh these is not known, but various hypotheses have been (SWY2) in Oman (Charpentier et al. 1997: 103). suggested for them including their use as spindle whorls Asecond type of net sinker found at some sites are small or items of jewellery.

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